Viewers have an ever-increasing selection of television programming to choose from, and may want to locate programming choices that are of interest to them. In addition to scheduled television program broadcasts, television viewing options also include on-demand choices which enable a viewer to search for and request media content for viewing when convenient rather than at a scheduled broadcast time. Typically, a viewer can initiate a search for a list of television programming choices and on-demand viewing choices in a program guide (also commonly referred to as an electronic program guide or “EPG”).
The television media content has associated metadata that describes and categorizes the media content. The metadata associated with a program can be obtained from any number of providers and compiled to include any form of information that describes and/or characterizes the program. For example, the metadata can include a program identifier, program title, plot description, actor information, date of production, broadcast channel, television network, artistic information, music compilations, and any other possible descriptive information about the program. Further, the metadata associated with a program can characterize a genre of the program that describes the content as being a movie, a comedy show, a sporting event, a news program, a sitcom, a talk show, an action/adventure program, or as any number of other category descriptions. A viewer can select a defined program category to find particular types of programs that may be of interest to a viewer.
Typical program descriptions, such as displayed in a program guide when a particular program or movie is selected, merely provide a short plot description, rating information, and/or a list of some cast members. These short, generic plot descriptions are typically obtained from a listing service, or a provider of the media content, and the rating information is provided by broadcast and cable television networks and/or by other associations. These simple program descriptions shown in a program guide, however, are displayed in a single dimension and rarely provide enough information for a viewer to decide whether a program or movie will be of interest to the viewer.